Zero's Hour
by Xenovent
Summary: A Mega Man X "Alternate Universe" type story. Give it a read and tell me what you think. Ch. 2 finally up after a year's time.. Xx;
1. Chapte 1, The Freeforall War

Zero's Hour, part 1: The Free-for-all War  
  
The blue blade of energy emitting from the newly updated Z-Sabre sliced easily through the Maverick minion's arm. With another horizontal slash, the revolting robot was reduced to scrap. Frowning grimly, Zero looked past the soldier he had just cut to pieces to the battle waging around him. It seemed that the whole world had just collapsed into anarchy. The Repliforce had declared sovereignty and was battling for an independent reploid nation. However, no later had this announcement been made, The Maverick Regime had broken out of hiding and attacked the Maverick Hunter H.Q. in a full-scale attack. And, only adding to the confusion, an anti-reploid organization made up of radical humans saw their opportunity to dispose of all the troublesome robots in one place. They produced from underground half a decade's worth of human-controlled weaponry, their main force consisting of new exo-suits, skeletons of reploids that were warn like body suits by the human soldiers. So, four major powers of the current world were battling at the one site of the Maverick Hunter H.Q., Humans, Mavericks, the Repliforce, and the Maverick Hunters. This battle is pure chaos, there isn't going to be any winner, only a pile of dead bodies, thought Zero, we are all just going to end up wiping each other out under the pretense of winning. He felt a body slam into him from behind. Spinning, Z-Sabre ready, Zero spun around to see X, and the first thing he saw was the massive damage around his chest, neck, even head. "X, you alright?" inquired Zero, even though the obvious physical wounds were present. "...Yeah, just a few scratches" replied X. He stood up, charging his arm cannon. "This is insane Zero," X continued "everyone is just taking shots at whomever they see first!" Again, the grim look deepened on Zero's face, "Tell me about it, X. If this keeps up, there won't be anyone left to celebrate a victory." X nodded, pressing his back against Zero as a group of Mavericks and Exo-suited humans surrounded the Hunter duo. Zero withdrew his Z-Sabre again as X pointed his cannon at one of the humans, then suddenly jerked his arm at the nearest Maverick. Zero noted the action "X, you can't keep your virtue of not hurting humans anymore. This war is a free-for-all. They won't spare anyone. Its either kill or be killed!" Zero jumped in front of X, slashing the arm of an exo-suit that was about to connect with X's head. The human piloting the suit screamed in agony as his arm was chopped clean off. X winced noticeably. "Zero, how can this be so easy for you?" "I never said it was, X," replied Zero as he thrust his Z-Sabre through a Maverick. "But these humans don't want us protecting them anymore...They want us dead!" X grimaced, that realization being tough for him. Killing other reploids is hard enough...but humans too? It's against everything I was programmed for... Still trying to avoid any human causality on his part, X lets loose another charged blast, giving a rather cocky looking Maverick soldier a resemblance to a tire...  
  
Meanwhile, in another part of the battlefield, the Repliforce, unprepared for the attack by the humans, struggled to advance away from the battle being fought. "We wanted to secede peacefully!" reasoned the General with the humans. A human commander by the name of Nathan Hawks yelled back "So you could declare war after you established another county! We are sick of being attacked and killed by robots! We will eliminate them all!" All the troops under Hawks yelled a battle cry at his statement. The Green Squadron leader turned to the General "General, we have to fight back, or else we'll never be able to escape with enough forces to begin the Repliforce nation!" The General frowned at this. This was exactly the kind of conflict he had wanted to avoid by turning the Repliforce from military to government. The Colonel tried his luck with the human army "Surely, if we stop the fighting, we can arrive at some peaceful solution! Please, stop the bloodshed!" Hawks scowled at the Colonel. Nathan had had a bad experience with reploids as a child, and these memories sprung forth from his mind as he retorted "My parents pleaded the same thing, but what mercy did they get? Kill them all men!" The human forces pushed forth on the Repliforce. Iris, who was beside her brother, clung to him as the enemy closed in, mowing down the front line, and continuing in by brute force. She whispered to him "Brother, is this the end...are we to be killed by our creators?" "No, dear sister, this will not be the end, I promise you that." Iris smiled a little at her brother's comforting words. It had only been a few weeks after she had successfully stopped the feud between Colonel and Zero before her brother had forgiven her completely. And yet, she still held a secret from him. And she wasn't sure if she should tell him, even now. She turned her gaze back to the advancing humans. The entire white squadron was fighting on the front line now to protect the Repliforce, and many brave soldiers continued to lose their lives for a pointless struggle. X...please be safe...She thought to herself, their experience together still fresh in her mind...  
  
A shadowed figure smirked as he watched the destruction and death below from his cloaked hovercraft. A red and gray maverick approached him, his yellow scarf seeming to float in the air, carried by the momentum of his walk. A dark visor covered the upset look in his eyes. "Master, we've completed Phase One. The Maverick Elite are standing by." "Good work, Protoman," The shadowed figure turned from the window, the smirk still plastered on his face. "Start with Phase Two immediately" Protoman Neo solutes, and disappears again into the blackness of the ship's corridors. He emerged again in a large briefing room, where the 8 members of the Maverick Elite were waiting. At the sound of the door to the room sliding open, the mavericks turned their heads to watch him stride to the center to make his announcement. "The Master has authorized Phase Two. You all know what you are to do, so get to it!"  
  
Back near the badly damaged Hunter HQ building, Zero and X were again fighting side by side. They were both now being forced to use most of their special abilities abundantly, and both X and Zero were beginning to run low on reserve power. They both breathed heavily. "Zero, I can't take much more of this..." Zero nods as he forces back the ever-growing wall of troops with a Ryuenjin. "Yeah, I know, but keep it up X, reinforcements should arrive shortly, just keep up the fight until they arrive" X nods, using up the last bit of determination left in his mainframe. He leaps forward, shoving his arm cannon against the head of a maverick and fires, the blast rips through not only that maverick, but the three behind him too. He takes a moment to wipe the red coolant off his cannon's rim, and draws back to recharge. Suddenly, all the remaining mavericks in the battle withdraw, and soon the area is left with only confused Hunters, soldiers and humans...  
  
Nathan Hawks blinked as he realized a lull in the battle around him. He looks around quickly, realizing that many of the reploids had just vanished from the battlefield. "What the...?" Sharing in his confusion was everyone else on the battlefield. A deafening silence followed, everyone seeming too confused to continue the fight. Murmuring starting springing up, Iris was one of those trying to communicate her confusion. "Brother," she said quietly, as if afraid that if she spoke to loudly, the battle would erupt again, "what just happened...?" "All the Mavericks," the Colonel replied with surprise in his voice "they've all just...left...! But why?" As for the human forces somehow the sudden change of events had killed the blood lust in many of them, so much so that some had begun to discard their weapons. X and Zero made their way over to the General and Hawks. Iris smiled happily as she saw X making his way over, but then frowned a little as she saw the damage he had taken. X secretly returned the smile, indicated a wound, and made a confident thumbs-up. At this, Zero elbowed him to pay attention, X muttered, and Iris giggled to herself. The General and Hawks had begun to talk calmly with each other, only because Hawks had seen many of his troops de-arm themselves of their weaponry. "This pointless battle should end before anymore lives are lost." Said the General in a voice of authority. Hawks nodded reluctantly "A cease-fire...for now. And you and your army aren't just going to secede like that. You want peace? Then we'll use diplomacy. Repliforce becoming a new nation with be decided by our courts!"   
  
With that, Hawks and the rest of the human forces began their withdrawal from the battlefield, and soon only the reploids were left. Zero and X climbed up on the General's hover command deck, carrying the General, Iris, and the Colonel. Iris was smiling, the Colonel had a look of exasperation, and the General smiled formally at the Maverick Hunters. "A rough day it's been, hasn't it" stated Zero, pushing the price of the conflict out of his mind for now. "Indeed," replied the General. "I never thought that trying to break off and create our own nation could create such bloodshed..." "I think we're lucky the Mavericks left, otherwise we might not had survived..." added the Colonel. X nods, then speaks up "But does anyone have any idea why they left...?"  
  
To be continued... 


	2. Chapter 2, Colorful Mysteries

Zero's Hour, Chapter Two: Colorful Mysteries Disclaimer: No ownership of anything Mega Man, heck, I barely own my own socks as it is  
  
Several days had passed since the three way confrontation on the Maverick Hunter HQ grounds. In the wake of the destruction, the Hunters alone, with some help by sympathetic Repliforce soldiers, had been left to clean up the sight of mangled robotics strewn about, not to mention the other forms of carnage. X and Zero, having the privilege of a higher rank, were instead assigned to the investigation of what was quickly being known as the "Free for all Conflict".  
  
Zero rubbed his head wearily; sixteen hours of staring down HQ recordings of the Conflict hadn't produced any explanation as to the sudden outbreak of human hostilities, or the awkwardly sudden withdrawal of Maverick forces. There was of course, no doubt in Zero's mind that Sigma had a hand in it, he just couldn't determine how deeply. Leaning back in his chair, Zero presses a button on the side of the desk. "Hey X, has anything turned up on the field?" There was a momentary pause, and then the voice of X filtered through, "No Zero, nothing at all." Zero sighed, "Alright then. I'm going out to clear my head, contact me if anything comes up." "Right, X out."  
  
X felt a little guilty. Granted, he had been working just as hard as Zero trying to uncover what connection the outbreak of violence had to Sigma, but when Colonel and Iris had shown up to offer their condolences, X had taken an unofficial break from his duties. While the Colonel talked with Maverick Hunter Commander-in-Chief Signas, X was "investigating" Iris' take on what had transpired. This, however, could also be known as flirting while on duty. "X, that wasn't nice, to lie to Zero like that," berated Iris tauntingly. X looked shocked, "I wasn't lying. You've only been here two hours, before then, I've been working my tail off before then." "Why X, I wasn't aware you had a tail."  
  
Walking amidst Lambda City, Zero felt uneasiness within him. Usually, the lights, sounds, and airs of a civilized, ordered city gave him inner resolve for what he was fighting for. But today, the distrustful stares of the people didn't quite enforce that he was fighting for them. Soon, it became too much, and Zero retreated to the hills outside the city to sort things through. "It's amazing just how little it takes for people to look at you differently. Granted, us Maverick Hunters never publicized how we just saved humanity's butt.but they knew what we were here for." He couldn't believe how the human's camera crews had scrambled to take footage of the "lifetime event" of the Maverick Hunters retaliating against the human armies. Ridiculous, Zero thought, and here I was thinking I understood how humans behaved. A sudden explosion and the piercing sound of sirens diverted his attention back to the city.  
  
"This is channel 7 news in front of Lambda City's fusion reactor with a live news report. As updates come in by the minute, we are learning that the reactor's automated systems have been shut down, bypassing safety overrides and leaving the reactor on a meltdown course. Furthermore, all gates and doors within the reactor have been sealed shut, and there is no telling what has happened to the maintenance staff inside. Police and firefighters should be arriving within moments. Wait a minute; here comes one of our red-clad protectors of the peace now. Excuse me sir, can you tell us any more of what's happening inside?" "I don't have time for your stupid news reports, lady," replied Zero angrily, "I'm just trying to do my job." Zero rushes past the channel 7 news crew muttering under his breath for what reason, I don't know. Finding the doors sealed shut; he unleashes his Z-sabre, slicing the door clean in half, and made his way into the smoking corridor.  
  
Back at Hunter HQ, Colonel's and Signas' conversation was interrupted by a report of Mavericks detected in Lambda City. Instinctually, the two commanders turned and tapped a communications button on their lower arm, signaling a response to the threat. Afterwards, the two couldn't help but smiling at their similarities.  
  
"X, there's something going on in Lambda." Signas had related the information to X, "Zero was last reported as being there, but we haven't been able to contact him. I'm sending you in accompanied by some of the Colonel's red squad. Discern what's happening, see if you can get in contact with Zero, and contact me with details as soon as you can." "Understood Commander," X replied, disliking news of Zero's absence, "I'm on my way. Let Colonel know I'll meet his squad at Lambda. X out." Holding on to X's arm, Iris asked X to be careful, and watched him as he bolted away in the direction of Lambda.  
  
Zero blinked and shook his head. Trying to stand, he found he already was, sort of. He was strapped against a wall, arms and legs held firmly in place, and his Z-sabre had been placed on a bland metal table a few meters away. Obviously, something had gone very wrong after he had entered the plant. Beyond that, however, Zero couldn't remember what had happened. Suddenly, he heard the sound of heavy reploid steps coming towards the door leading into the room. The door swung open, revealing a heavy-handed red Maverick, a design that was totally alien to Zero's visual identifiers. His hands were definitely his most unique feature, as they pulsed with energy. And every pulse sent a light wave throughout the rest of his body. He spoke before Zero had time to rattle off the usual clichéd questions, "So, you're the famed Zero, Maverick Hunter Extraordinaire." "Yeah, that's me all right. But who are you, and where the hell am I?" Zero responded, getting a chance to throw those clichéd questions in there. "I'm known as Red Plasma," The hulking Maverick replied rather cockily, "one of the Maverick Elite. And, of course, your executioner."  
  
To be continued. 


End file.
